Big Red Report Fall Camp Weekly Wrap-Up

Steve Ryan

08/11/2007

Check out our weekly wrap up as we give you the skinny on the week that was during Fall Camp 2007

The first week of fall practice is always a learning process for the players
more than it is for the coaches. With the acclimation period the NCAA demands,
the Huskers weren't able to hit full pads until Friday. But what that meant was,
up until that time the coaches crammed in as much information into the players
as they could. "We're throwing it at them at a pretty good rate. We are asking
them to take a lot of stuff in right now," Offensive Coordinator and
Quarterbacks' Coach Shawn Watson said.

On the defensive side the theme was similar, because until the team had a
chance to put on pads, everything was up in the air. "For the new guys it's just
trying to get in as much as we can as far as learning the system, the keys, the
reads and all that. For the veteran guys, it's just about repetition and
refining everything they have learned up to this point," Defensive Coordinator
and Linebackers' Coach Kevin Cosgrove said.

Nebraska head coach Bill Callahan talked about that aspect before pads, as
very important when it comes to hitting the mental part before the physical part
begins. "During this time where it's a shorts-practice, we try to overload them
a little bit with the mental side of football, because there's not much
contact," He said. "So, what we've done is put in a little more of our system
(and) team them a little bit more of what we are trying to get accomplished. We
go out and walk through all those scenarios and then practice it. So, we are
getting a lot of the mental side of the game done, so when contact comes we are
ready to go."

When the pads finally went on, and the team was able to scrimmage on
Saturday, the head coach was fairly pleased with it, though, it was for a very
limited amount of reps. "I thought the tempo was good. I thought they competed
hard for 20 plays, just trying to get back to conditioning them into scrimmage
tempo," Callahan said. "A lot of guys flashed, but until we turn the film on and
really look at and study it, we'll see. Overall, I thought the execution was
good for normal down situations scrimmage. It was all first and 10. There was no
blitz. We didn't mix in any pressures or anything like that. We just wanted our
players to go out and execute against standard fronts and basic plays – core
plays, so we could evaluate players."

OH, THOSE HAMMIES

The evaluation process is, of course, on-going, but one of the biggest issues
during Fall camp is players simply staying healthy. The heat has taken its toll
to a small degree, but it would appear the hamstring has been the biggest issue
of late.

Before Fall camp even began, junior offensive guard Andy Christensen reportedly tweaked a hamstring,
sidelining him until the first session of two-a-days Saturday morning, where he
saw limited duty his first day back.

OG, Andy
Christensen

Freshman corner Shawn Sullivan also tweaked his hamstring during
Friday's first full-padded practice, sidelining him during the first full
scrimmage, Sullivan saying himself that he thought he might be out a week.

Junior running back Cody Glenn continues to have health issues, but
like the aforementioned duo, this time it was a hamstring tweak keeping him out
of Saturday's practice, versus the chronic foot problems he's had dating back to
last season.

Also on hamstring-rehabbing detail was sophomore wideout Chris Brooks
and his status is day-to-day.

Junior wideout Todd Peterson was sidelined early during the week with
a shoulder sprain, but returned on Saturday for practice.

During Saturday's 20-snap scrimmage, junior running back Marlon Lucky
suffered a concussion, but it's not believed to be serious. Lucky also missed
the afternoon practice along with Glenn.

Zack Bowman continues to rehab from the Patellar Tendon injury during
the early part of Spring, but his progress is said to be good. It's unsure, but
expected that he could see full padded work before fall camp concludes.

ON THE RISE?

There are always names which float about, even this early on during fall
camp. Players that may have surprised either by their ability, mental acuity or
simply their approach to the game.

Sophomore strong safety Larry Asante seems to be making big strides,
continuing off the injury-hampered spring, where he wasn't able to compete
throughout the session before summer break. He's proven quite quickly that all
of the tendencies he showed at Coffeyville playing linebacker, he translates
extremely well to safety at the Division 1-A level. Even before Fall camp
arrived, Asante was gaining a reputation as a potential sledgehammer in pads
when it came to how hard he hits. It would appear he's done nothing to quell
that reputation from continuing through Fall.

Senior wide receiver Maurice Purify is back which is great news for
the team. But he's got a ways to go before he's in shape to the degree, where he
can play a full game. Following a seven-week suspension imposed by head coach
Bill Callahan, Purify was literally on his own when it came to keeping his
stamina and continuing his strength and conditioning. Purify had already shown
up in Spring slightly overweight, but has since dropped those pounds and
according to wide receiver's coach Ted Gilmore, he believed there was
time enough to get Purify where he should be ready to play when the
season-opener arrives.

Even though Garden City transfer, junior defensive tackle Kevin Dixon
arrived on campus just the day before the team was to start fall camp, he showed
up in surprisingly good shape. He's even been effective enough in limited
situations where players like senior offensive tackle Carl Nicks has commented
about how quick he is, how aggressive he is and how he believes he's
"definitely" going to contribute his first year. That's not typical of junior
college transfers coming into the fall, especially with linemen. But Dixon
certainly seems to be breaking the mold.

Niles Paul seems to be making some noise, even though he admits
himself that practice at this level, especially with all the running required,
is the toughest thing he's had to endure. It's not stopped the coaches from
working him in frequently and it seems that Paul is starting to make a name for
himself in the return game. The return game has been up in the air, you could
say since last season ended, the team desperately trying to find a combination
which works for both punt and kickoff returns. Paul is one of those being
worked, along with other players like Marcus Mendoza, Cortney Grixby, Andre Jones, Frantz Hardy, Terrence Nunn, Tierre Green, etc. Paul offers a real
speed as he has an extensive track background, but he's bulked up noticeably and
could be a more physical style of return man than they have had in some time.
It's still up in the air as to what will work best for this unit, which dropped
off considerably compared to its performance two years ago, and Paul could be
just another facet to a unit which will hopefully be markedly better than in
2006.

While players seem to be making homes for themselves at
certain positions on the offensive line, the shuffling continues at a frantic
pace the first week of fall.

RB, Marcus
Mendoza

Typical to the philosophy of offensive line coach Dennis Wagner, all of
the linemen are being cross-trained tackles working both left and right side and
the guards doing the same, but also many of the players slated to play guard
working at center, the team still trying to find a solid back up to senior
center Brett Byford. With Andy Christensen being out much of the spring
and some of this first week in the Fall, Coach Wagner said that he's got to earn
his starting spot back, that spot now being held by Keith Williams as
well as Mike Huff, who now that he's back from the Achilles tear, has
worked both left and right guard during the fall. Wagner said that senior
offensive lineman Victory Haines has taken reps at left guard as well. Huff's
primary position should be at right guard, where he will battle junior Matt Slauson and sophomore Jacob Hickman for time.

The kicking game seems to still be a question mark, though, not much is
expected to be learned of this group of kickers, especially freshman Adi Kunalic. The reports have been good about Kunalic and his leg strength,
especially regarding kickoffs, but the coaches haven't been as forthcoming with
praise, maintaining the expectedly vanilla stance in regard to who is where on
the depth chart and which players are executing to their satisfaction. Junior
kicker Jake Wesch handled much of the kickoff duties last year, but with
the departure of Jordan Congdon, who has since transferred as a walk-on
to USC, that field goal job is completely up in the air.

Zach Potter has definitely used the off-season to his advantage,
putting on a little more size, but all reports indicate that he's approaching
the game with a lot more intensity during the fall versus the spring, where it
wasn't quite as evident. The base end position is critical for Nebraska , not
only because someone has to replace first round draft pick Adam Carriker,
but this is the position which has to hold down the strong side of the line,
where they will often see the tight end/tackle double team.

On the other side, at the open end position, junior Barry Turner has
put on a lot of size, now resembling Jay Moore, the person he's slated to
replace. More a situational player in his first two years, the size wasn't that
much of an issue. But to be an every down player, he's added the weight and now
really looks the part. All reports indicate that even at his new and improved
size, he still retains the jaw dropping quickness he illustrated as a freshman
when he weighed right around 230 pounds versus the almost 270 he weighs now.

Because of Cody Glenn now being out and Marlon Lucky on a
day-to-day basis, the new faces to the team and to that side of the ball, have
been getting a lot more reps. Sophomore running back Major Culbert was
moved from the defensive back position at the end of last season, when Lucky,
Glenn and even Brandon Jacksonwere all dealing with some sort of injury.
He is the probable headliner of a group of youngsters, including midterm
enrollee, freshman Marcus Mendoza and freshmen Quentin Castille
and Roy Helu. Mendoza had a hamstring issue of his own at the end of
spring, but that particular issue hasn't reoccurred thus far this fall camp.

WHAT POSITION?

In the defensive backfield, there's enough jockeying going on, it's sometimes
hard to figure out just who is where. As it stands right now, when it comes to
the new arrivals, Eric Hagg is working at safety and Anthony Blue
along with Shawn Sullivan are working at corner. Prince Amukamara
is also working at corner, but has voiced his interest in potentially moving
back to offense one day, and he's also being experimented with in the return
game, which most expected based on just a portion of his jaw-dropping highlights
from his prep career in Arizona .

There has been much talk about Quentin Castille moving to fullback,
most of that stemming from the fact that the former Texas prep star came into
fall camp weighing over 250 pounds. But while Castille has been utilized in a
variety of roles over the fall camp, no mention has been made of even trying him
at fullback or even in the H-back role, where he could be motioned out from the
fullback spot.

Nebraska will continue its run of consecutive practices, taking to the field
tomorrow afternoon. The team won't get a break until Photo Day, which takes
place on the 18th of this month. The next two-a-day session will be
Friday, August 17th.

QUOTABLES:

(8-7/07) Bill Callahan Barry Turner on weight change: "We are looking
to increase his reps, so he can endure the stamina for an entire 60, 70 or 75
play-game. Hopefully we are not on the field that long, but he's going to be a
full time player as before, he was role playing and subbing in the game with Jay
Moore. Now it's a little bit different. Taking that starter's position is going
to require him to play a little bit more than he has in the past."

(8-7-07) Bill Callahan on Quentin Castille's size: "Looking at his
body fat, he's right on schedule. He's a big man. We would like to get him down
to (2)45, but he's a load. I had a lot of fun watching him today in practice. He
carried the ball well. He's starting to learn the cuts and the footwork required
in the running game. He's doing a very good job in the passing game, but that
will all change here on Friday when we are in full pads."

(8-7-07) Bill Callahan on experience of offensive line: They are an
experienced group. It's interesting that all these guys have been around each
other for three and four years, so the communication is better. You expect that
when guys have experience and have a lot of games under their belt. With (Brett)
Byford up there – it's his second year as a starter and Slauson, and Murtha, and
Huff and Picou – those guys have been around each other for years, so, so far so
good. You can't have enough communication (on the line). It's the toughest
aspect of any sport, amateur or professional when you have five guys that have
to communicate at one time under 25 seconds and put their line in the right
calls for the blocking calls, it's a pretty tough assignment. But we are making
tremendous strides right now, but we still have a long ways to go."

(8-8-07) Shawn Watson on back up center position: "It's still up in the air a little bit. Jacob
Hickman is working there. ( Jordan ) Picou is working
there.

Both guys have done well. That really remains to be seen. We are
going to have to work a couple of other different combinations that, that will
affect. So, both of those guys have done a nice job. Picou had really a nice
spring there and Jacob has done well there. (He was) A guard for us last year,
but he's done well there (at center) for us. When Andy (Christensen) gets back,
that was an initial plan that he could swing in there, so we will cross-train
not only him, but several guys."

(8-8-07) Shawn Watson on Patrick Witt not being a typical freshman:
"No, he's not. He always amazes us at what he's able to retain (and) what he's
able to do. He doesn't strike me as a freshman at all."

(8-8-07) Shawn Watson on how much a healthy Michael McNeil could help this
offense: "He could be big for us, because he, like Hunter Teafatiller, gives
us a threat down the field. He's a guy that can really run and catch. So, as a
receiving tight end, he could help us initially. I think he's a really good
run-blocker too, so he's exactly what you are looking for. "

(8-9-07) Bill Callahan on Zach Lee: "He's got a long ways to go, but
he's a studious guy, he cares and loves the game and wants to be great. He wants
to be a perfectionist and it's tough to do in this system, right off the bat,
because there are things you have to spit out and, of course, communicate. But
he's doing well. His progress is kind of where we thought it would be right now
and every day is an opportunity for him to improve and get better. He's got the
arm. Now it's just a matter of acquiring the experience within the system and
learning the progression and reads to become more effective in the system."

(8-10-07) Kevin Cosgrove on the improvement of Zach Potter: "He did
some good things in the spring, but he's playing much better right now than he
did. His explosiveness, he's getting off on the ball. He's playing with his
hands very well. He's showing more suddenness. You can see his strength and how
he's developed that. So, I have been very impressed with Zach. He's big enough
to play that position (Base End). Plenty big."

(8-10-07) Kevin Cosgrove on Larry Asante: "I think Larry had his best
day today. I haven't seen his film yet, but just looking at the big picture
today, I was pretty impressed with what he did today. He's always around the
ball. He's showed suddenness. He was downhill. So, I don't know he was in the
past, but I just noticed what he's done."

(8-10-07) Bill Busch on the potential impact of the rule change regarding
moving kickoffs back to the 30-yard line: "I think it's one of the bigger
ones

DT, Kevin
Dixon

we've seen, because it's going to create more
space for the dynamic returner. It creates more space for the cover team. If you
go back and look at kickoffs last year, you start talking about touchbacks –
balls that are five yards deep, teams kept it in the end zone. Now they are all
returnable balls. So all of a sudden, the number of returns is really going to
jump. When you go back and watch teams, say they had 17 touchbacks, sometimes
you look at it and say that only four of those would have been touchbacks in the
new rule. It's something that we've researched hard and our kids are working
hard at it and understanding how to work in space is critical for us."

(8-11-07) Bill Callahan on how he divided quarterback reps for 20-play
scrimmage: "We gave Joe and Sam their reps and we obviously let Pat Witt and
Zach Lee get theirs also during practice. We can't play five quarterbacks in 20
reps – (It's) pretty difficult to do, so we gave the bulk of the work to Sam and
Joe for that particular scrimmage."

(8-11-07) On how Kevin Dixon looks at this point: "He looks OK. It's
just a matter of trying to get him really refined in terms of all his
techniques. He's a good football player. He's natural. He's got the lowers – the
lower part of his body where his power comes from. He's quick-twitched, he's got
power, he's got strength. He can hold the point of attack and he's got that
burst and that quickness to come off the ball, whether to create some type of
penetration on a slant or to get up the field on a pass rush. So, those things
have really flashed considerably in the last few days we've watched him."

ON THE SIDE

Former Husker commit, but on-going Husker recruit, Elkhorn offensive lineman
Trevor Robinson was in attendance on Saturday as Nebraska went into the
first half of two-a-days. Robinson remains uncommitted, his list of favorites
still assumed to be Nebraska, Notre Dame and Michigan. With Notre Dame filling
up quickly and the rumors persisting about Lloyd Carr retiring after this
season, Nebraska would seem to be back in the front for one of the top offensive
guard prospects in the country. There is no determined time as to when Robinson
plans to make his decision.

Mater Dei standout defensive end Cameron Meredith was also in town for
the last two days. Nebraska continues to try and address on-going needs at the
defensive end position, and Meredith is being looked at to play the base end
position, which was held by Adam Carriker last year, and is being fought for
this season by junior Zach Potter and redshirt freshman Pierre Allen, amongst
others. Make sure to check out Big Red Report's
story on Meredith's visit as he talked about Nebraska and how it
stacks up to the formidable list of other teams in contention for this standout
DE.